KALININ K-7 - A MASSIVE AIRCRAFT

[faisal6309]

KALININ K-7 - A MASSIVE AIRCRAFT

During the early 1930s, a team of scientists led by Konstantin Kalinin tried to solve some of the most complex problems in aviation design. Thus the idea to create the Kalinin K-7 was born. It would be a plane of huge proportions, especially designed for overseas flights.

Sometime during the development of a design which might allow such a task to be performed, arose the concept of placing the cargo - people and objects - on the actual wings of the airplane, leading up to a variety of drawings and the concept of the flying wing. The airplane was even tested in a wind tunnel in 1928 and a protoype was begun in 1929. The proportions were staggering at the time - a 53 m (173 ft 11 in) wingspan and a 454 m² (4,886.8 ft²) wing area. Only one aircraft was actually built, but it was enough to stir up the imaginations of many enthusiasts.

These images are mere mad ravings that could never be built, yet they are truly impressive (these pictures were taken from a Russian website).

Kalinin K-7 - a massive aircraft

 

[faisal6309]

Some more information from Wikipedia

Kalinin K-7

The Kalinin K-7 (Russian: Калинин К-7; Ukrainian: Калінін К-7) was a heavy experimental aircraft designed and tested in the Soviet Union in the early 1930s. It was of unusual configuration with twin booms and large underwing pods housing fixed landing gear and machine gun turrets. In the passenger version, seats were arranged inside the 2.3-meter thick (7 ft 7 in) wings. The airframe was welded from KhMAchrome-molybdenum steel. The original design called for six engines in the wing leading edge but when the projected loaded weight was exceeded, two more engines were added to the trailing edges of each wing, one right and one left of the central passenger pod. Nemecek states in his book that at first only one further pusher engine added.

Design and development

Designed by World War I and Civil war pilot Konstantin Kalinin at the aviation design bureau he headed in Kharkov, with a wingspan close to that of a B-52 and a much greater wing area, the K-7 was one of the biggest aircraft built before the jet age. It had an unusual arrangement of six tractor engines on the wing leading edge and a single in pusher configuration at the rear.

In civil transport configuration, it would have had a capacity for 120 passengers and 7,000 kg (15,000 lb) of mail. As a troop transport it would have had capacity for 112 fully equipped paratroopers. In bomber configuration it would have been armed with 8 x 20mm autocannons, 8 x 7.62mm machine guns and up to 9,600 kg (21,200 lb) of bombs.

The K-7 was built in two years at Kharkiv starting in 1931.

The K-7 first flew on 11 August 1933. The very brief first flight showed instability and serious vibration caused by the airframe resonating with the engine frequency. The solution to this was thought to be to shorten and strengthen the tail booms, little being known then about the natural frequencies of structures and their response to vibration. The aircraft completed seven test flights before a crash due to structural failure of one of the tail booms on 21 November 1933.[4] The existence of the aircraft had only recently been announced by Pravda which declared it was "victory of the utmost political importance" since it had been built with steel produced in the USSR rather than imported. The accident killed 14 people aboard and one on the ground.[6] Flight speculated that sabotage was suspected as the investigating committee had representation by the state security organization, the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU).

However, there appeared recently some speculations in the Russian aviation press about the role of politics and competing design office of Andrei Tupolev, suggesting possible sabotage. Although two more prototypes were ordered in 1933, the project was cancelled in 1935 before they could be completed.

Specifications (K-7)

Data from Shavrov (1985)

General characteristics

• Crew: minimum 11
• Capacity: 120 passengers in civilian configuration
• Length: 28 m (91 ft 10 in)
• Wingspan: 53 m (173 ft 11 in)
• Height: 12.4m (estimated to top of engine shell)
• Wing area: 454 m² (4,886.8 ft²)
• Empty weight: 24,400 kg (53,793 lb)
• Loaded weight: 38,000 kg (83,776 lb)
• Powerplant: 7 × Mikulin AM-34F V-12 piston engines, 560 kW (750 hp) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 225 km/h (121 knots, 140 mph)
• Service ceiling: 4,000 m (13,123 ft)
• Wing loading: 84 kg/m² (17 lb/ft²)
• Power/mass: 103 W/kg (0.06 hp/lb)

Kalinin K-7 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Echo_419]

KALININ K-7 - A MASSIVE AIRCRAFT

During the early 1930s, a team of scientists led by Konstantin Kalinin tried to solve some of the most complex problems in aviation design. Thus the idea to create the Kalinin K-7 was born. It would be a plane of huge proportions, especially designed for overseas flights.

Sometime during the development of a design which might allow such a task to be performed, arose the concept of placing the cargo - people and objects - on the actual wings of the airplane, leading up to a variety of drawings and the concept of the flying wing. The airplane was even tested in a wind tunnel in 1928 and a protoype was begun in 1929. The proportions were staggering at the time - a 53 m (173 ft 11 in) wingspan and a 454 m² (4,886.8 ft²) wing area. Only one aircraft was actually built, but it was enough to stir up the imaginations of many enthusiasts.

These images are mere mad ravings that could never be built, yet they are truly impressive (these pictures were taken from a Russian website).

Kalinin K-7 - a massive aircraft

 

[faisal6309]

Itny heeran kyn ho bhai?

 

[Echo_419]

Itny heeran kyn ho bhai?

Bhai aise cheez post kari hai heeran kyu nahi honga & just think they built this in 1930s & no one is south Asia can still build anything like this

 

[faisal6309]

Bhai aise cheez post kari hai heeran kyu nahi honga & just think they built this in 1930s & no one is south Asia can still build anything like this

They built only one piece of it and this project was discontinued after its crash. So in reality, they did built it but no one mastered in its aviation design.

Bhai aise cheez post kari hai heeran kyu nahi honga & just think they built this in 1930s & no one is south Asia can still build anything like this

Sab achay k liye hi hota ha!! Its crash didn't let Soviets to convert this air craft into this.

 

[Echo_419]

They built only one piece of it and this project was discontinued after its crash. So in reality, they did built it but no one mastered in its aviation design.

But still yaar,South Asia bahut peeche hai

 

[faisal6309]

But still yaar,South Asia bahut peeche hai

True, but we should see China and their progress in 2-3 decades. We should learn something from them. Lekin hamary politicians bhi na!!!

 

[Echo_419]

True, but we should see China and their progress in 2-3 decades. We should learn something from them. Lekin hamary politicians bhi na!!!

Saraa kam inhone he karabh kara hai,my dad always says this Indian people are 'Jutti Ke Yaar' Brutal force is needed to change South Asia just like what they did in China

 

[Jf Thunder]

wow, its so awesome, i wonder why they dont make more LOL

 

[faisal6309]

Saraa kam inhone he karabh kara hai,my dad always says this Indian people are 'Jutti Ke Yaar' Brutal force is needed to change South Asia just like what they did in China

Agreed

wow, its so awesome, i wonder why they dont make more LOL

Because of crash.

 

[Jf Thunder]

Because of crash.

but many other planes have been crashed, but not cancelled

 

[faisal6309]

but many other planes have been crashed, but not cancelled

Their aviation designs were not complicated as this one's.

 

[Jf Thunder]

Their aviation designs were not complicated as this one's.

lol

 

[TheFlyingPretzel]

In some cases Russian military programmes, in addition to being overly ambitious, are rushed in order to achieve a competitive edge over Western nations, and this in turn compromises their planning and the quality of work which would otherwise have gone into them, thereby having disastrous consequences.

Even some relatively simple Russian aircraft in comparison to the K7 have been catastrophic failures. By way of example the Tupolev Tu-144 was meant to be a supersonic passenger carrier capable of speeds in excess of Mach 2, until it crashed at the Paris Air Show in 1973. It was whole-moulded and tooled from large, single blocks of alloy which allowed structural fatigue to traverse the entire panel and destroy the airworthiness of the frame.

The Tu-144 was completed ahead of time to counter the rise of the Concorde, and it appears that the K-7 may have been a desperate attempt to compete with the German Dornier Do X or maybe even pre-date the Spruce Goose.

Whatever the reason for the failure and despite having been lost to time the K7, like the Ekranoplan, is and always will be a testament to human ingenuity and innovation.